China can only be so neutral in wars now
The China Letter: March 21, 2022
Challenges facing China on the international stage, America busting a ring of alleged Chinese spies, the new cost of COVID-19 lockdowns, Hong Kong’s security law being wielded in a new direction, and TikTok working on a strategy to appease the White House. It was just another week in the ongoing history of China news for our strange times.
The neutrality dilemma
President Xi Jinping is evidently trying to navigate the fact that China is now too important to stay neutral in global conflict, yet too economically powerful to remain neutral. A cable sent by the U.S. to allies in Europe and Asia indicated assistance was offered to Russia in its war with Ukraine, a claim which China summarily denied before this call was placed:
Spying across America
Pro-democracy dissidents in New York City, Indiana and California were allegedly targeted by the Chinese government for spying, based on charges that targeted a ring of three men. Two others were similarly charged, with one case involving a current run for U.S. Congress by Xiong Yan, a Tiananmen protester.
The coronavirus revival
Some of the biggest lockdowns in the history of the pandemic took place in China. But concerns about the tech supply chain being disrupted due to factory shutdowns were alleviated as they eased in Shenzen. The city of 17 million people was blaming its neighbour for outbreaks of “stealth Omicron,” although Hong Kong was holding off on restrictions.
Hong Kong’s latest target
The national security law is now being wielded at a British watchdog group, but Hong Kong Watch chief Benedict Rogers says he won’t capitulate to authorities. It’s now one of the first foreign organizations to be charged.
TikTok on its tip-toes
The creation of clones of TikTok’s internal systems is being designed in response to concerns over U.S. user data being the property of the app’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance. An order to sell the service to Oracle and Walmart was shelved upon last year’s change in the White House. But those privacy concerns are accelerating again.
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